Reagents and methods useful for detecting diseases of the prostate

Abstract

A set of contiguous and partially overlapping RNA sequences and polypeptides encoded thereby, designated as PS215 and transcribed from prostate tissue is described. These sequences are useful for the detecting, diagnosing, staging, monitoring, prognosticating, preventing or treating, or determining the predisposition of an individual to diseases and conditions of the prostate such as prostate cancer. Also provided are antibodies which specifically bind to PS215-encoded polypeptide or protein, and agonists or inhibitors which prevent action of the tissue-specific PS215 polypeptide, which molecules are useful for the therapeutic treatment of prostate diseases, tumors or metastases.

We claim:  
     
         1 . A purified polynucleotide or fragment thereof derived from a PS215 gene, wherein said polynucleotide is capable of selectively hybridizing to the nucleic acid of said PS215 gene and has at least 50% identity to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQUENCE ID NO 1, SEQUENCE ID NO 2, SEQUENCE ID NO 3, SEQUENCE ID NO 4, SEQUENCE ID NO 5, SEQUENCE ID NO 6, SEQUENCE ID NO 7, and fragments or complements thereof.  
     
     
         2 . The purified polynucleotide of  claim 1 , wherein said polynucleotide is produced by recombinant techniques.  
     
     
         3 . The purified polynucleotide of  claim 1 , wherein said polynucleotide is produced by synthetic techniques.  
     
     
         4 . The purified polynucleotide of  claim 1 , wherein said polynucleotide comprises a sequence encoding at least one PS215 epitope.  
     
     
         5 . A PS215 polypeptide having at least 50% identity with an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQUENCE ID NO 10, SEQUENCE ID NO 11, and fragments thereof.  
     
     
         6 . The polypeptide of  claim 5 , wherein said polypeptide is produced by recombinant techniques.  
     
     
         7 . The polypeptide of  claim 5 , wherein said polypeptide is produced by synthetic techniques.  
     
     
         8 . A method for detecting PS215 antigen in a test sample suspected of containing said PS215 antigen, comprising: 
 (a) contacting the test sample with an antibody or fragment thereof which specifically binds to at least one epitope of a PS215 antigen selected from the group consisting of SEQUENCE ID NO 10, SEQUENCE ID NO 1, and fragments thereof, wherein said contacting is carried out for a time and under conditions sufficient for the formation of antibody/antigen complexes; and    (b) detecting the presence of said complexes as an indication of the presence of said PS215 antigen.    
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein said antibody is attached to a solid phase.